


The Tent

by notsogreatwithnames



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 04:18:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15677859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsogreatwithnames/pseuds/notsogreatwithnames
Summary: Reader goes to find Merle after he's been missing from a run. They have to stay in a tent....





	The Tent

Your breath was ragged as you rested against the tall oak in the middle of the wilderness. Scrunching your face, you closed your eyes and tried to focus on controlling your breathing. You knew you were getting close by the tracks in the soil. Deeper the print, the fresher it is, and ya know ya gettin close, his voice entered your head. It was taking all your self control to remain calm and not foolishly attack without a plan. You had to focus, otherwise you’d not only get yourself killed, but him as well.

*************************************

The day you met Merle Dixon, you had no idea he’d become such an important part of your life.

A resident of Woodbury, you’d always been uneasy of the power the Governor held over most of the town. You had managed to go unnoticed by most, preferring the meal prep and inventory jobs, more so than taking guard or going out for runs. You blended in well, which was good, because that was your plan: to go unnoticed by most so when the time came to leave, no one would even figure out you’d left. Hiding away from the others, you spent most days in the Woodbury library, sitting in the far corner of the small building and reading till nightfall.

The first time Merle had walked through the wooden doors, he saw you in the corner while browsing one of the stacks. Slowly, you looked up from your book when you felt eyes on you, nervous about who might have been in there. When your eyes connected with Merle’s gaze, he didn’t utter a word, just gave you a quick nod of his head. Not having that looming feeling in the pit of your stomach that the Governor usually gave you, you relaxed and smiled in return. Those meetings became more frequent, and though you two had only muttered a few words to each other, sometimes Merle stayed and sat at the small table in the room to read. You found yourself looking forward to those little run ins when all hell broke loose in Woodbury. You had nowhere to go and wandered the woods as the town burned to the ground. Exhausted and feeling like you were walking in circles, you stumbled upon Rick’s group, catching the leader off guard. Still reeling from battle, Rick had threatened you within an inch of your life. That’s when you heard the vaguely familiar voice. 

“Hold on there, Officer Friendly,” he spoke from behind the rest of the group. “I recognize this one, she ain’t gonna do nothin.” Rick eyed you down before turning back to Merle.

“Ya sure?” he asked.

Merle nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure. She didn’t have anything ta do with the Governor.” Rick looked back over to you still not convinced. Eventually, he walked up to you and whispered in your ear you could stay, but would have to pull your weight. You told him you would as the group started walking again, your eyes watching Merle as he made his way to you.

“Don’t think I ever caught ya name, darlin?” his raspy voice called out to you.

“(Y/n). I’m (y/n),” you muttered. “Didn’t think you’d recognize me actually.” A wry smile formed on the older man’s face as he eyed you up and down.

“Name’s Merle.” He said as he walked past you towards the group. 

*************************************

You opened your eyes as two voices sounded from the distance. Slowly moving away from the tree, you quietly picked up the tracks you’d been following. What you were doing was foolish, you knew that. But you also knew if it was you, Merle, you hoped, would be doing the exact same thing. The footprints continued forward towards the river and you glanced at your surroundings, eying a small hill to the left. Highest vantage point Merle’s voice ran through your head. If you had any chance of taking these people down, it would be from that hill. Covered in thick grass and weeds up to your knees, you climbed up the hillside, hunching down when you got closer to the top. 

You could make out two men covered in weeks old dirt, and hair as oily as a greased pan. As your eyes scanned the camp, you noticed a small tent off to the side, and the river far ahead. You froze when you finally spotted him. He was tied to the tree opposite the tent, skin incredibly pale, and his head bowed. The sweat stain on his wifebeater went halfway down his chest, and you could see the dampness of his thin hair. Merle had told you the day before he wasn’t feeling too great, but his stubborn ass still went on that run with Daryl, and now here he was.

“What ya think this thing is for?” one of the men asked, kicking Merle’s metal attachment.

“Donno, guy’s probably a psycho or something.” The other responded walking away.

“Dude Frankensteined his own arm!” The first one laughed, still kicking at the attachment. Merle was too out of it to retaliate. You felt anger bubble to the surface of your skin and grabbed your gun, which had a silencer attached. Greaseball one had entered the tent, leaving Greaseball two alone. You relaxed your body and focused on your target, Merle’s voice still in the back of your head. Firing, the bullet landed and the man went down. A few minutes went by before the other one came out of the tent. He looked at his partner on the ground and immediately grabbed his gun from his belt, turning around in circles trying to figure out where the attack came from. You readied yourself and for the split second the man paused, you fired again. You got him in his side, he went down but wasn’t dead. You ran down the hill over to the man and saw the look of shock in his eyes at being brought down by a woman before you fired the kill shot. When you turned towards the direction of Merle, your hands began shaking. 

*************************************

You’d been with Rick’s group for a while, but still felt like an outsider. As the weeks went by, you found yourself in Merle’s company. He treated you differently than everyone else, and respected your opinions as you became more vocal in the group. Over time, you figured out Merle was on the outskirts with them too. They tolerated him because of Daryl, but no one went out of there way to make small talk with Merle. You two spent a lot of time together, and Merle started to teach you how to hunt and track.

“Ain’t ever seen someone pick this up so well,” he had said when you picked up the footprints of a buck outside of camp. You smiled, feeling heat rush to your cheeks. Somewhere between Woodbury and the barn you took shelter in now, you realized you had developed a crush on the older redneck. His praise of your hunting skills made you a little light headed and you missed the question he whispered to you when you spotted the buck, resting at the edge of the field.

“Huh?” you asked. Your head returning back to reality.

“I said ya wanna try your shot at it?”

“Oh, uh…”

“Don’t worry Sugar, I’ll help ya,” Merle cut you off when he heard the hesitation in your voice.

“ ‘kay” you nodded your head. His hypnotic blue eyes making you agree to his offer.

Merle handed you the rifle and stood behind you. He lowered his head down and you felt his warm breath on your neck. He set his hand on your hip to help your stance as you raised the rifle.

“That’s it, keep it in ya line of sight,” he whispered, sending goosebumps down your back. You exhaled a long, slow breath and your finger glided over the trigger. The ricochet of the rifle pushed you back into Merle’s sturdy body, and you both looked to see the buck on the ground. You smiled discovering you had hit your target.

“Alright, Sugar!” Merle called out, squeezing the side of your hip in excitement. You turned around to see a big grin on his face. Swallowing the nerves that flew up in that instant, you tilted your head up to place a kiss on his stubbled cheek.

“That gonna happen every time I let ya hunt dinner?” he asked, still grinning.

*************************************

You knelt in front of Merle, setting your gun on the ground, and grabbed the knife attached to your boot to cut the ropes off around his stomach and arms.

“Merle?” you whispered. Reaching out for him, you placed your hands on his shoulders and lightly shook him. A soft groan escaped from his chest and you breathed a sigh of relief to know he was somewhat coherent.

“Merle, it’s (y/n). I’m here,” you said, moving your hands to his face. “I’m here.” You lifted his head up so you could examine it. His face was stark white and small beads of sweat pooled at his hairline. You pressed your lips to his forehead and felt the scorching heat from his body on your sensitive skin. No doubt he had a fever, and you knew those assholes tied him up to let him die. He needed help fast and your brain went into autopilot. Getting up, you tried to help Merle get to his feet, but he wouldn’t budge. Merle wasn’t the tallest or biggest man in the world, but he packed muscle, and no matter how hard you tried you were getting nowhere. You bent down again.

“Merle,” you pleaded. “I gotta get you up, and I can’t do it by myself. I need your help.” You watched his face and saw him faintly nod his head that he understood you.

“Okay,” you got back up. “Count of three alright? One…two…three.” You lifted under his shoulders as Merle moved his feet, his back using the tree as a base to slowly scoot up. Finally getting him to stand, you braced one of his arms over your shoulders and moved slowly towards the tent. Halfway there, you thought you’d almost collapse with how much weight Merle was putting on you. You paused and adjusted your position before continuing. When you reached the tent you tried to lay him gently to the ground, but Merle just sort of slipped down your body to the floor with a thud. Looking around the small enclosure, you thanked the stars above that even though those men seemed like the biggest idiots around, they were smart enough to collect blankets and pillows. You saw some bottles of water and a lantern in one of the corners before grabbing a couple of the ratty blankets and wrapping Merle in them. You placed a pillow with the feathers falling out underneath his head.

Once you made sure Merle was good, you went back outside. Running on adrenaline, you dragged the two men’s bodies towards the river to dispose of. On your way back, a walker wearing dirty, blue coveralls approached. Taking your knife out, you struck it through the walker’s head, and dragged the body back to the tent. Looking down, you noticed it had a name badge sewn into the coveralls that read ‘My name is Bill.’ You placed him next to the side of the tent, your knife hovering just above his stomach.

“Sorry, Bill,” you said under your breath as you cut into the walker’s body. Exposing his insides, you carefully spread them around the tent. You were going to have to leave Merle for a little bit to go on a run, and you knew the smell would deter the walkers for awhile. When you finished, you quickly went back to the river to wash off and then to the tent. Leaning down towards Merle, you whispered in his ear.

“Hey, I’m gonna go see what I can find for you. I’ll be back soon,” you grabbed his good hand and guided it over to the gun you had set down. “My gun’s right here if anything happens. I’ll be quick, I promise.” You felt Merle squeeze your hand, and you let go before your mind tricked you into thinking of what could go wrong while you were gone. Walking out, you zipped up the plastic door and headed in the opposite direction of the river where you knew the main road was.

************************************* 

After enduring Woodbury, the Prison, and Terminus, the group was weary when Aaron had shown up at the barn to talk about Alexandria. You didn’t trust him at first, not believing a whole town could exist in peace within the walls. That first night, everyone slept within the same house, no one’s guard completely down. Merle called over to you when he saw you enter the living room. He had set up a spot for you to sleep, right between him and Daryl. You two hadn’t done anything yet, but everyone already assumed you were together with how protective Merle was of you. You stepped over some of the others to get to the brothers and laid down in your spot, pulling a light, blue sheet over you.

“Ya good?” Merle asked looking down at you.

“Mmhm,” you responded back, adjusting the pillow underneath your head. Merle waited until you settled before laying down himself. With all the members of the group in one room, the amount of body heat in the air was making you sweat. In the middle of night, you kicked the thin sheet you were using off of your body. Not quite fully awake, you weren’t aware that you had shifted towards Merle and nuzzled deeper into his side before falling back asleep. The next morning, you woke up with one arm slung over his stomach, while his was wrapped around your back. Both you knew the other was awake, but neither one of you moved until you heard other members of the group start to stir.

When Rick decided it was okay to separate into houses, Merle insisted you share one with him and Daryl. After walking around the house you were assigned, you decided you felt safer taking one of the smaller rooms on the upper level. Daryl’s eyes widened in surprise when Merle said he’d take the other room right next to yours, rather than the master bedroom on the lower level.

Though the houses within Alexandria were as new as could be, the walls were thin, and you heard every move Merle made. One night when he had come back late from a run, you heard two quick knocks, a pause, and one more knock on the wall where the head of your bed was. You tapped the same pattern back and heard Merle sink into his bed. Ever since, no matter what time it was, he’d tap the wall letting you know he was back.

That morning had started like any other. Even though you all had been in Alexandria for a couple of weeks, it was still so foreign to you to wake up in a house, in a room, on the most comfortable bed you had ever slept on. Your eyes adjusted to bright sun shining through the window to your right while you stretched your arms above your head and flexed your feet down. A soft groan escaped your lips as you felt the blood flow through your joints. You had gone on a run with Michonne for some supplies the day before when the old truck you were using crapped out, and you both had to walk miles back to the town.

The bed creaked as you adjusted your position, and you thought back on if you had heard Merle’s knock last night. You didn’t think you did, but knew he could definitely hear you waking up through the wall. You waited in bed for the three knocks behind your head, but nothing happened. You waited a few minutes longer before you knocked on your own wall.

_Knock knock, pause, knock._

Nothing.

You pulled on a pair of shorts and opened the door of your room to walk the five steps it took to get to Merle’s. His door was open, but showed no signs of him being in there recently. 

You went back to your room to put on your jeans and a shirt, tying your hair in a ponytail. As you ran down the steps, you peaked into Daryl’s room but he wasn’t there either. Feeling your stomach turn, you left the house and walked around town until you spotted Rick at the entrance gates with Daryl. You ran up to them and asked where Merle was when Daryl looked down.

“What? What happened?”

“We were jumped on a run. Some truck was rigged to go off. Had a bunch of walkers in the back of it,” he started. Your stomach dropped.

“Is he…”

“Don’t know. We got separated, but I saw him walk off with two other men. They had guns pointed at him.”

“Where?”

“Off the main highway, couple miles back.” After Daryl told you where they were, you bolted off towards the town’s armory to grab your gun and supplies.

“(Y/n)!” Rick called after you, but he knew he couldn’t stop you. He witnessed the change in you from hanging around Merle, saw you become more powerful and confident with a weapon. Not to mention, Rick even saw some of Merle’s attitude come out of you on rare occasions. When you came back to the gates, he saw you off.

“I know I can’t stop ya, but I’d wish you’d take someone with you.” You shook your head at the officer.

“I can concentrate better if I go alone. Besides, I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because they tried to help me locate that son of a bitch.” Rick let out a laugh.

“I know you’ll find him, (y/n).” Nodding your head you thanked him and walked through the gates. 

*************************************

You reached the highway in about an hour’s time and headed towards the first vehicle you saw. The small, tan car’s back door was already opened and you scrounged around the back for anything that might be useful. You looked within five vehicles and grabbed whatever you could. A half opened box of goldfish crackers, one water bottle, a few ibuprofen you found in the bottom of a red purse, a bag of sour cream n’ onion chips, and one more blanket later your backpack was full. Dusk was approaching and you knew you needed to get back to the tent.

As you approached you noticed not one walker with within in a twenty foot radius of the tent because of Bill, and smiled to yourself. You unzipped the door and walked in sitting down next to Merle, who as far as you could tell hadn’t moved an inch.

“I’m back,” you called out softly. Merle grumbled and slowly lifted his eyelids.

“Hey, Sugar,” he said, his voice hoarser than usual. Seeing those deep blue eyes again made your heart swell and you smiled down at him.

“Hey,” you said, noticing your voice crack. You cleared your throat before you continued. “I found some stuff.” Grabbing your backpack, you unloaded all that you collected and dumped two of the ibuprofen into your hand. You reached for a bottle of water, fed the pills into Merle’s mouth, and gently tipped the bottle of water for him to drink. He let out a batch of coughs from his throat having been so dry and closed his eyes again. You replaced the worn down blanket he was using with the softer one you found, and started to unbuckle his metal attachment. Merle jerked his arm, causing you to jump.

“What ya doin, Sugar?” he whispered.

“Taking this off.”

“I need it.”

“No, what you need is to sleep,” you retorted, fiddling with the last buckle till it came loose. Merle grumbled under his breath as you set the contraption off to the side, but didn’t fight you on the subject anymore. A couple minutes later you heard snores coming from the burly man, and shook your head.

You settled in for the evening, taking watch at the front of the tent near the plastic door, and dug into the sour cream n’ onion chips. The night air sent a chill down your spine and you wrapped yourself in the blanket you had taken off of Merle. It was taking all of your brain power not to fall asleep. You thought back on all you had done within the day, and your mind and body were both exhausted. Bringing your knees to your chest, you crossed your arms over the top of your knees. You caught yourself a couple of times throughout the night dozing off, whipping your head back up when you did. 

What you didn’t know was that Merle saw it too. He had been rustled out of his sleep when his fever broke and watched you in front of him. Knife within your reach, trying to keep yourself awake, he couldn’t believe you were here, that you’d risk your life to come find him. He watched as your head bobbed from exhaustion, before his tired body fell asleep again.

You watched the sky turned into a light pink hue as the sun began to rise. Hearing Merle stir behind you, you rubbed your tired eyes and crawled back over to him.

“How ya feeling?” you asked, putting your hand up to his forehead. He didn’t feel hot anymore. Merle slowly sat up for the first time, rubbing his good hand over his face and clearing his throat.

“Better. Real glad ya found me, Sugar,” he said, taking a sip of water.

“Ya feel like eating?” You grabbed the box of goldfish from your backpack, and Merle scooped a handful. You went rummaging through your pack again before cursing under your breath. Merle asked what was wrong.

“Nothing. It’s stupid.” you huffed out.

“Come on,” he teased you. “Tell me.” Even fighting off a fever, Merle still acted like Merle. You closed your eyes and shook your head, laughing at your own idiocy.

“I just. I thought I had grabbed the Pop-tarts I saw in one of the cars on the highway, and I didn’t.” You looked over at Merle, who smirked and started laughing under his breath.

“Stop,” you yelled at him playfully. “They just looked so good when I saw them.”

Merle finished his goldfish and put his attachment back on before getting up. You asked where he was going when he said he needed to take a piss.

“The hell is that smell?” he called out. You smiled, watching him look at the trail of guts you’d left around the tent.

“Oh, that’s uh Bill,” you answered back.

“What kind of trouble ya get up to while I was out of it, Sugar?”

A few minutes later Merle came back into the tent, and told you to go lay down. You tried fighting him on it, but he wouldn’t have it. He knew how exhausted you were, and told you if anything happened he’d wake you up. Your head had barely touched the pillow before you passed out.

_________

You woke up just as the sun was starting to set and stretched your body out, feeling refreshed after being able to sleep for a little while. Looking towards the tent door, you saw Merle watching you, a faint smile on his face.

“Better?” he asked. You nodded your head, turning on your side to face him.

“Good. We gonna have to leave soon if we wanna get back ta town before it gets too dark.” Merle stated as he crawled out of the tent.

“What?” you called after him, untangling yourself from the warm blankets. You stepped out of the tent and almost tripped right into Merle, who had stopped only a few inches from you. “We’re not leaving today.”

“Why not? I don’t want ya out here anymore freezin ya ass off at night.”

“Merle,” you groaned. “You’re still recovering from a fever. I don’t wanna be walking back and you passing out on me or something in the middle of nowhere!” Merle scoffed at your statement.

“I ain’t gonna pass out!” he barked, turning away from you and walking towards the river. You shook your head, trying not to let this little spat get too out of control. Your eyes caught the walker on the ground in your peripheral.

“He’s such a stubborn ass sometimes.” You told Bill before following after Merle. When you reached the bank of the river, he was bent down splashing water over his face.

“Please,” you said calmly behind him. “Let’s just stay one more night. I’m still worn out, and I don’t want you to over exert yourself too soon.” Merle shook his head when he heard your voice. He wanted to get you back safely inside the walls of Alexandria, but walking that distance with his head still weighing like a ton of bricks, he knew you were right. He got up and turned around to face you.

“Alright. We’ll stay one more night.”

The both of you ate the rest of the goldfish and chips in silence when you went back to the tent. The sun had gone down and the small lantern that was left behind set a soft, yellow glow within the shelter. Merle had been awfully quiet since you got back and it was starting to worry you. You asked him if he needed anything, and he didn’t answer. 

“How come ya came after me?” Your eyes widened as you looked at him. His brows furrowed, blue eyes deep in thought when he finally looked over at you.

“What do you mean?” you asked, suddenly aware of the nerves in your stomach.

“I mean, Daryl or someone else coulda come, but they didn’t. I woke up and saw you.” You turned away from him, suddenly embarrassed at the answer that came to your mind.

“You didn’t knock,” you whispered.

“Huh?”

“That morning. I woke up and knocked on your wall. You didn’t answer.” You peaked up at him, wondering what he was thinking. After a few minutes he spoke. You were expecting some witty comeback that Merle usually spat out when things got a little too serious, but were shocked at his words.

“I’m sorry, (y/n).”

“What?” your mouth fell open.

“It’s my fault ya out here,” he said turning towards you. “I shouldn’t of gone on the run, wouldn’t have gotten so outta it, and ya wouldn’t be out here in the open.”

“I’d rather be out here with you, than stuck in those walls with everyone else.” You found yourself admitting out loud, your face flushing.

Merle placed his hand on your cheek, his thumb brushing lightly over your redden skin.You leaned into his touch as his thumb trailed over to your bottom lip. He leaned in and met his lips with yours. You had kissed Merle before, but he never pushed things any further because you two never had a moment alone together long enough, moving from shelter to shelter. Getting over the shock of what was happening, you wrapped your arms around Merle’s neck and opened your mouth to deepen the kiss. Your tongues explored each other’s mouths as Merle moved his hand down to grip your side. His grip tightened, and you held onto him as he moved forward to lay you gently on the ground. A quick, sharp pinch to your back made you break the kiss and let out a small hiss.

“What’s wrong?” Merle asked with wide eyes, afraid you might have changed your mind. You lifted your body up on one side and reached behind you while letting out a giggle.

“My knife!” You smiled as your hand emerged with the silver blade. Merle let out a sigh of relief, followed by a laugh as you tossed the knife to the side and grabbed hold of him again. He rested on his side, as his hand roamed up and down your body, slipping underneath your shirt. Slowly, his hand creeped up to your chest and started to massage one of your breasts, rolling and pinching your nipple through the thin fabric of your bra. His lips roamed down the underside of your jaw to your neck, nipping and sucking at the sensitive area. 

The stubble on his face tickling your skin, you smiled as your hands moved from his neck to his shoulders, pushing his old, button up shirt off and down his arms. Merle quickly discarded the material, and your hands slipped underneath his wifebeater to remove as well. Your hands grazed over the broad expanse of his chest, and you let out a soft moan, admiring the muscle that gave you so much trouble the other day. Merle smirked at the noise you made and moved his hand down to unbutton your jeans. He cupped your mound in his hand, your body jumping at his touch, before he unzipped the denim. When he had gotten the jeans down to your knees, you kicked them the rest of the way off. Merle pushed your shirt up to leave a trail of kisses down your stomach as his hand reached under the waistband of your underwear. Your eyes closed and you let out a gasp when his fingers slid through your folds, feeling how wet you had become.

“Fuck,” he muttered, before removing his hand from you and tearing off your underwear. Merle’s hand went back to your folds, running a finger up and down your slit spreading your arousal around. He inserted another finger, spreading you open, and your grip on his shoulders tightened as he began pumping them inside you.

“Mmm, Merle” you called out, getting lost in your own pleasure.

“Ya like that baby?” he asked as his lips returned to yours. You moaned your approval in his mouth, kissing him back. As his thick fingers continued their work on you, Merle moved his thumb over your swollen clit, rubbing it in soft, circular motions. The increase in pleasure causing you to rock your hips back and forth against his hand. You could feel the warm sensation developing rapidly in the pit of your stomach as Merle’s pressure on your clit increased, and you knew you were getting close. Curling his fingers as he continued to pump them, Merle hit that spot deep inside of you, pushing you over the edge.

“Ahh, yes!” you called out, legs shaking as your orgasm spread throughout your body. Merle’s hand not letting up, he felt your walls contract around his fingers and continued to work them inside of you, bringing you to another orgasm. Your back arched off of the ground, and Merle let out a growl as your nails dug into his shoulders.

Removing his fingers from your core, Merle watched as you caught your breathe. When you regained your thoughts, you opened your eyes and watched as his solid chest rapidly moved up and down. Hearing the quick puffs of air, your eyes moved to look at Merle. His mouth hung open and the dark look of lust in his eyes only made you realize how much more of him you craved. 

“Merle,” you whined. “I want you.” You palmed at his erection through his jeans. He swallowed hard and let out a groan in the crook of your neck. After a few seconds he composed himself and lifted his head, wearing the biggest shit eating grin on his face.

“Thought ya didn’t want me ta over exert mahself?” he asked, over enunciating his words. “Thought ya wanted to make sure I was feelin better.” You rolled your eyes at him before smiling and leaning up to kiss him. In a soft voice you placed your mouth close to his ear, and took a breath before saying the words that came to your mind.

“I’ll make you feel better,” you whispered, your teeth grazing over his skin as you kissed along his jawline.

“Shit.” He muttered under his breath as his hips jerked in reaction. You pushed on his chest so that he would roll over onto his back, and straddled his lap. You discarded your shirt, tossing it in the pile Merle had started.

“Damn Sugar,” he said, running his hand up and down your side. He reached up to your shoulder and pulled the strap of your bra down.

“Take it off,” his hoarse voice commanded, and you felt another surge of arousal course through your body. Slowly you bent your forearms back to undo the clasps of your bra. Suddenly feeling confident enough to tease the man, you smiled and moved your hands back over the cups, letting the straps fall down your arms.

“Ya better take that damn thing off, or I’ll cut it off ya,” he quipped. Your eyes widened as you glanced down to his metal attachment that neither one of you thought to take off.

“You better keep that hand where I can see it.” you retorted. Finally letting the bra slip off you completely, your nipples hardened as soon as the cool night air hit them. You tossed the bra off to the side, and quickly removed Merle’s metal attachment before he could get his arms on you again. He sat up and took one of your breast in his calloused hand, the roughness of his skin feeling amazing on your soft flesh. You arched your body into his touch as he worked one of your nipples with his hand, while he took the other in his mouth, his tongue circling and teeth tugging on it. 

Pleasure rising again and going straight to your core, you remembered what you had said, and gained enough control of your mind to get Merle to lay back down. Your hands went to his jeans, taking them off in the same haste he had done to you. You could see his erection straining against his boxers, and slowly slid them off his waist. You moaned under your breath finally seeing him, his thick cock standing at full attention. Merle let out a hiss when you reached out and stroked him a couple of times. You lifted yourself off his lap to guide him slowly into your entrance, both of you moaning out when you connected. Letting yourself adjust to Merle’s length, you began rocking back and forth in a leisurely pace, wanting to feel every inch of him inside of you. Merle’s arms went to your upper thighs, his good hand lightly tracing patterns on your skin.

“I’m recoverin from a fever, Sugar” Merle said after a moment. “Not a heart attack.” His hand going to your backside and giving your ass a quick smack. The sudden sting eliciting a gasp and moan from your body. You looked down at Merle who had a smirk on his face, and moved your hands to his chest for better support, and began riding him faster.

“Fuck Sugar, just like that.” Merle moaned out. His arms supporting you as he began moving his hips, meeting you thrust for thrust. You could feel your own orgasm approaching again as your hips grounded down on him.

“Merle,” you moaned. “Touch me.” Merle guided his thumb over your center and began rubbing and tapping your clit faster than before. As soon as you felt him, you went over the edge. Eyes closed, your back arched and mouth opened, but no words came out. Watching you cum sent Merle into his own release. His head tilted back while he still thrusted into your worn body until he was spent and groaned out.

Exhausted, you collapsed on top of him, your body rising and falling to the rhythm of Merle catching his own breath. Merle’s hand slowly trailed up and down your back, while you moved your head to place a kiss on his chest. As you came down from your high, your body started to chill from the night air. Merle lifted you slightly and you felt him slip out of you before he gently laid you by his side. He grabbed a couple of the ratty blankets and turned on his side to cover you both. You snuggled in closer to him, his body heat warming you better than the blankets. You were on the verge of sleep, when your brain remembered where you were.

“What about taking watch?” you lifted your head to look at Merle.

“Eh, I think we’ll be fine,” he shrugged his shoulders. “Should be good one more night with Bill out there. He done such a good job so far,” he reassured you. 

“Think he likes ya.” Merle teased.

You laid back down on Merle’s chest and smiled.

“He knows it’s just strickly business between us.”

Merle laughed and you felt the vibration in his chest, before he kissed the top of your head.

“I won’t let anything happen to ya, Sugar. I promise.” he whispered in your ear, and before you knew it sleep had taken over your tired body. 

_________ 

You woke up the next morning to an empty tent. Your heart started racing thinking something happened to Merle, and you quickly kicked off your blankets to get dressed. When you were about to walk out through the plastic door, Merle walked in causing you to jump backwards.

“Jesus, (y/n)! Where ya in a rush to?”

“I just, uh. I thought something happened… to you.” you mumbled over your words.

“I’m fine, Sugar,” he answered. His voice on the verge of a whine. You knew Merle liked that you cared about him so much, though he’d never admit it. But, you acknowledged to yourself, you might have been overdoing it the past couple of days. You nodded your head and asked where he’d gone. Merle cocked an eyebrow and smiled at you, reaching into your backpack that he took with him. A shiny, silver rectangle piece of plastic emerged and your mouth fell open when you realized what he had.

“You got my Pop-tarts?!” you squealed.

“Ya just looked so sad when ya talked about ‘em.”

You couldn’t recall the last time you smiled this much, and in that moment you pictured just you and Merle, out here on your own, living in peace for the rest of your days. But you knew that could never happen. Merle still had Daryl to look after too, and he wouldn’t leave his brother again. The two of you split the strawberry pop tarts, packed up what you could, and headed back towards Alexandria.

“Thanks for helpin mah girl out there, Bill.” Merle called out to the walker, still laying near the tent. You laughed at his statement as you took one last look at the place. A sort of sadness fell over you as you looked at the small tent. Even though you hated the circumstances that had brought you both to this place, in a weird way you were going to miss it. 

When you arrived back to the house you shared, you were greeted by most of the group,who bombarded you both with questions about what had happened out there. After the reunion, you, Merle, and Daryl sat in the kitchen, Merle going into more detail about what had happened when he was taken. You got up from your seat to grab a glass, when you sneezed twice in a row. Merle looked over at you, his blue eyes full of concern.

“Ya alright there, Sugar?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Ya sure?” he asked. You looked over at him to respond when you saw the change in his now dilated eyes.

“Ya don’t need me to take care of ya? Make ya feel better?” Merle’s tongue licked over his lips in one solid, slow movement and you felt the heat rush to your face, and between your legs. He got up from his seat, placing one arm around your lower back, while the other lifted you off your feet by your knees. You wrapped your arms around his neck as he carried you towards the master bedroom. The two of you flew past Daryl, and you couldn’t help the laughter coming out of you.

“Ay Daryl, change of plans. Ya can have the upstairs room from now on.” Merle hollered over his shoulder, before kicking the door of the master bedroom shut.


End file.
